Lesson plan

Metals and non-metals

Lesson structure
This lesson plan details the second 70 minute lesson in a short unit of four lessons. In the first lesson,
the teacher introduces the topic of material science and conducts hands-on activities. In the second lesson,
described here, the teacher introduces the concept of metals and non-metals. The teacher uses a range
of pedagogies and hardware, including an interactive whiteboard (IWB), to start the lesson.

The teacher demonstrates the Metal Munchers learning object on the IWB. Students break into groups and
use the learning object to identify objects as metals. The students develop explanations of their choices.
In the third lesson, the teacher provides students with time to further develop their explanations. The teacher
asks probing questions to assist students with their explanations. The teacher introduces key scientific terms
and assists students to link the scientific term to their original explanation. The students then begin work
on their digital poster. In the fourth lesson, the students complete work on the digital posters and add
them to the class online project space.

Timing Activity Pedagogy Technology

Lesson 2

10 min Introduction to the lesson. Whole class discussion IWB displaying the
A-Z chart.

15 min Students take turns to choose an object and Whole class activity No digital technology,
place it in the metal or the non-metal pile. a range of metallic and
non-metallic objects.

10 min Introduction to the learning object Metal Teacher-led and whole IWB and learning
Munchers by the teacher, followed by class activity object.
activity where one student controls the
learning object on the IWB with the rest
of the class assisting.

30 min Formation of small groups by teacher and Cooperative learning Computers and digital
students moving to computers. Students in groups learning objects.
work on the learning object in their groups.

5 min Debriefing discussion about metals and Whole class discussion nil
non-metals.

Note the number of different activities and pedagogical strategies in the lesson: continual variety of activities
makes the lesson more interesting and productive for both students and the teacher.

Page 1 © 2011 Commonwealth of Australia. Unless otherwise noted, this material is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence.
You may use this material free of charge for educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the material.
Online resources
• Learning object Metal Munchers from the eContent repository
• Digital poster software such as Glogster

Other resources
• IWB and connected computer, with appropriate software
• Page depicting the letters A–Z
• Computers, 1 per 2 or 3 students
• Range of objects, some metals, some non-metals and some objects that have both metal
and non-metal parts.

Safety considerations/materials
• Choose items without sharp edges
• Cyber safety: refer to the examplar and Cybersmart.

Backup plan
Downloading the learning object to the school’s server will ensure access if the internet is down or running
slowly. You should also trial the software prior to the lesson to ensure it is working and that you are familiar
with it.

Assessment ideas
Students will construct a digital poster during Lesson 4 of this unit. This poster will describe the students’
understanding of the concept of metals and non-metals.

Differentiated instruction
Consider options to use technology to assist students with individual learning needs. For the current exemplar
one student can use a digital recording device to record their predictions, observations and explanations, and
then transcribe the recording later. The student can use the recording device while other students write or
type their answers. This strategy permits all students to complete the activity within the set time.

Page 2 © 2011 Commonwealth of Australia. Unless otherwise noted, this material is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence.
You may use this material free of charge for educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the material.